The present invention relates to a wheel cap lock for maintaining a wheel cap and the like to a wheel, for example that of a motor vehicle, and more particularly to a wheel cap lock that can be provided by an original equipment manufacturer, or optionally provided as a part or kit which can be installed aftermarket to help prevent accidental loss or theft of a wheel cap.
A wheel cap (sometimes referred to in the alternative as a wheel cover), provided for example, in the form of a well known hubcap comprising a removable plastic or metal cover received on the center of a car or truck wheel, and generally covering an entirely of a wheel rim, have been conventionally available for decades. They serve to protect the wheel lugs holding the vehicle wheel to the wheel hub from exposure to elements on the road which may cause corrosion, and to provide a decorative appearance to a wheel. Vehicle manufactures sometimes use wheel covers or to improve the appearance of painted steel rims, while concomitantly avoiding the added cost of using more expensive alloy type wheels.
While wheel covers and hubcaps generally cover the entire wheel rim, wheel center caps are also known, which can also be used on more expensive alloy wheels. These typically will cover only the center of the wheel, serving to cover the wheel lug nuts.
While bolt-on wheel covers are known, and which have holes coinciding positionally with the lugs carried on the wheel hub, the lug nuts used to secure the wheel cover to the wheel rim remain exposed, and can detract from the appearance of the wheels.
Heretofore, hubcaps (wheel covers) and wheel center caps (generically referred to herein as “wheel caps”) which completely obscure the wheel lug nuts, and which exclusively rely on a press fit or interference engagement fit with the rim part for securement, have been prone to detachment from the wheel either through accidental loss, as when dislodged as the result of striking a deep pothole, or by theft, and the prior art has failed to adequately address this significant drawback.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a wheel cap lock and a wheel cap locking method which would provide a vehicle owner with the piece of mind that wheel caps would remain on the wheels until intentionally removed.